Biogeographic climate sensitivity controls Earth system response to large igneous province carbon degassing

Area of Science:

• Earth Science
• Paleoclimatology
• Ecology

Background:

• Large igneous province (LIP) magmatism profoundly impacts Earth's climate and biosphere.
• These events trigger significant climatic shifts and biological reorganizations.
• Vegetation's response influences the carbon-climate system and long-term climate recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of vegetation's adaptive capacity in mitigating LIP-induced hyperthermals.
• To understand how vegetation dynamics affect the severity and duration of climate perturbations.
• To determine if vegetation evolution and dispersal can establish new climatic steady states.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an eco-evolutionary vegetation model to simulate responses to LIP events.
• Incorporated biological evolution and geographic dispersal mechanisms for vegetation.
• Compared model outputs with proxy-based temperature reconstructions from major geological hyperthermals.

Main Results:

• Vegetation's climate adaptation capacity significantly controls hyperthermal severity and longevity.
• Vegetation dynamics can promote the emergence of a new, stable climatic state post-perturbation.
• Model trajectories align with proxy data from Permian-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic, and Paleocene-Eocene events.

Conclusions:

• Biological vegetation dynamics are crucial in shaping the multi-million-year Earth system response to massive carbon degassing.
• Vegetation's adaptive strategies play a key role in climate regulation and recovery following extreme warming events.
• Understanding vegetation's role is essential for predicting Earth system behavior during and after large-scale environmental disturbances.